1. Field of the Invention
This invention is concerned with analysis of organic additives and contaminants in plating baths as a means of providing control over the deposit properties.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electroplating baths typically contain organic additives whose concentrations must be closely controlled in the low parts per million range in order to attain the desired deposit properties and morphology. One of the key functions of such additives is to level the deposit by suppressing the electrodeposition rate at protruding areas in the substrate surface and/or by accelerating the electrodeposition rate in recessed areas. Accelerated deposition may result from mass-transport-limited depletion of a suppressor additive species that is rapidly consumed in the electrodeposition process, or from accumulation of an accelerating species that is consumed with low efficiency. The most sensitive methods available for detecting leveling additives in plating baths involve electrochemical measurement of the metal electrodeposition rate under controlled hydrodynamic conditions for which the additive concentration in the vicinity of the electrode surface is well-defined.
Cyclic voltammetric stripping (CVS) analysis [D. Tench and C. Ogden, J. Electrochem. Soc. 125, 194 (1978)] is the most widely used bath additive control method and involves cycling the potential of an inert electrode (e.g., Pt) in the plating bath between fixed potential limits so that metal is alternately plated on and stripped from the electrode surface. Such potential cycling is designed to establish a steady state for the electrode surface so that reproducible results are obtained. Accumulation of organic films or other contaminants on the electrode surface can be avoided by periodically cycling the potential of the electrode in the plating solution without organic additives and, if necessary, polishing the electrode using a fine abrasive. Cyclic pulse voltammetric stripping (CPVS), also called cyclic step voltammetric stripping (CSVS), is a variation of the CVS method that employs discrete changes in potential during the analysis to condition the electrode so as to improve the measurement precision [D. Tench and J. White, J. Electrochem. Soc. 132, 831 (1985)]. A rotating disk electrode configuration is typically employed for both CVS and CPVS analysis to provide controlled hydrodynamic conditions.
For CVS and CPVS analyses, the metal deposition rate may be determined from the current or charge passed during metal electrodeposition but it is usually advantageous to measure the charge associated with anodic stripping of the metal from the electrode. A typical CVS/CPVS rate parameter is the stripping peak area (Ar) for a predetermined electrode rotation rate. The CVS method was first applied to control copper pyrophosphate baths (U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,605 to Tench and Ogden) but has since been adapted for control of a variety of other plating systems, including the acid copper sulfate baths that are widely used by the electronics industry [e.g., R. Haak, C. Ogden and D. Tench, Plating Surf. Fin. 68(4), 52 (1981) and Plating Surf. Fin. 69(3), 62 (1982)].
Acid copper sulfate electroplating baths require a minimum of two types of organic additives to provide deposits with satisfactory properties and good leveling characteristics. The suppressor additive (also called the “polymer”, “carrier”, or “wetter”, depending on the bath supplier) is typically a polymeric organic species, e.g., high molecular weight polyethylene or polypropylene glycol, which adsorbs strongly on the copper cathode surface to form a film that sharply increases the overpotential for copper deposition. This prevents uncontrolled copper plating that would result in powdery or nodular deposits. An anti-suppressor additive (also called the “brightener”, “accelerator” or simply the “additive”, depending on the bath supplier) is required to counter the suppressive effect of the suppressor and provide the accelerated deposition within substrate recesses needed for leveling. Plating bath vendors typically provide additive solutions that may contain additives of more than one type, as well as other organic and inorganic addition agents. The suppressor additive may be comprised of more than one chemical species and generally involves a range of molecular weights.
Acid copper sulfate baths have functioned well for plating the relatively large surface pads, through-holes and vias found on printed wiring boards (PWB's) and have recently been adapted for plating fine trenches and vias in dielectric material on semiconductor chips. The electronics industry is transitioning from aluminum to copper as the basic metallization for semiconductor integrated circuits (IC's) in order to increase device switching speed and enhance electromigration resistance. The leading technology for fabricating copper IC chips is the “Damascene” process (see, e.g., P. C. Andricacos, Electrochem. Soc. Interface, Spring 1999, p. 32; U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,648 to Chow et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,817 to Ahmad et al.), which depends on copper electroplating to provide complete filling of the fine features involved. The organic additives in the bath must be closely controlled since they provide the copper deposition rate differential required for bottom-up filling.
As the feature size for the Damascene process shrank below 0.2 μm, it became desirable to utilize a third organic additive in the acid copper bath in order to avoid overplating the trenches and vias. Note that excess copper on Damascene plated wafers is typically removed by chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) but the copper layer must be uniform for the CMP process to be effective. The third additive is called the “leveler” (or “booster”, depending on the bath supplier) and is typically an organic compound containing nitrogen or oxygen that also tends to decrease the copper plating rate. Leveler additive species tend to exert a relatively strong decelerating effect on the copper electrodeposition rate but are typically present in the plating bath at very low concentration so that their decelerating effect is weaker than that of suppressor additives. Due to their low concentration, leveler species tend to function under diffusion control.
In order to attain good bottom-up filling and avoid overplating of ultra-fine chip features, the concentrations of all three additives must be accurately analyzed and controlled. The suppressor, anti-suppressor and leveler concentrations in acid copper sulfate baths can all be determined by CVS analysis methods based on the effects that these additives exert on the copper electrodeposition rate. At the additive concentrations typically employed, the effect of the suppressor in reducing the copper deposition rate is usually much stronger than that of the leveler so that the concentration of the suppressor can be determined by the usual CVS response curve or dilution titration analysis [W. O. Freitag, C. Ogden, D. Tench and J. White, Plating Surf. Fin. 70(10), 55 (1983)]. Likewise, the anti-suppressor concentration can be determined by the linear approximation technique (LAT) or modified linear approximation technique (MLAT) described by R. Gluzman [Proc. 70th Am. Electroplaters Soc. Tech. Conf., Sur/Fin, Indianapolis, Ind. (June 1983)]. A method for measuring the leveler concentration in the presence of interference from both the suppressor and anti-suppressor is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,572,753 to Chalyt et al.
For proper functioning of acid copper plating baths, it is also necessary to control the concentrations of additive breakdown products generated by electrochemical and/or chemical reactions involving additive species. Such additive breakdown products may degrade the properties of the copper deposit by interfering with the functioning of the additive system and/or by inclusion in the deposit. Depending on whether or not they exhibit activity similar to that of the parent additive, breakdown products could be considered auxiliary additives, which complicate control of the additive system, or contaminants, which directly degrade the deposit properties.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,749,739 to Chalyt et al. describes a CVS method for determining the relative concentrations of active suppressor additive species and suppressor breakdown contaminants in acid copper electroplating baths. In this method, the volume fraction of the plating bath added to the bath supporting electrolyte (or a background electrolyte) required to produce a predetermined decrease in the copper electrodeposition rate is determined for two predetermined copper deposition potentials or potential ranges. The volume fraction required for the more negative potential or potential range provides a measure of the concentration of the active suppressor additive since the suppressor breakdown contaminants are not effective at suppressing the copper deposition rate at the more negative potentials. The volume fraction required for the less negative potential or potential range provides a measure of the combined concentrations of the active suppressor additive and the suppressor breakdown contaminants. A comparison of the measured volume fractions for the two potentials or potential ranges yields the concentration of the suppressor breakdown contaminants relative to the active suppressor additive concentration.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/883,803 to Chalyt et al. (filed May 4, 2004) describes a CVS method for analysis of anti-suppressor additive breakdown products that affect the metal electrodeposition rate and decompose as a function of time. In this method, a rate parameter for electrodeposition of the metal is measured at a plurality of times in the plating bath, or in a measurement solution comprising the plating bath. The concentration of the additive breakdown product in the plating bath, at a predetermined time, is determined from the slope of a plot of the metal electrodeposition rate parameter versus a time parameter, which provides a relative measure of the concentration of the additive breakdown product in the plating bath at the predetermined time. This method is useful for detecting the 3-mercaptopropylsulfonic acid (MPSA) breakdown product of the bis(sodiumsulfopropyl)disulfide (SPS) anti-suppressor additive in acid copper sulfate plating baths, for example.
No effective method for detecting leveler additive breakdown products in acid copper plating baths is currently available. A suitable method for detecting breakdown products of the leveler additive in acid copper plating baths is needed to avoid excessive concentrations of breakdown products that can degrade deposit properties, and to enable control of the leveler additive at the optimum level, which depends on the concentration of such breakdown products.